


now it begins, now we start

by lotts (LottieAnna)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Engagement, Fluff, M/M, Pretzels, Soft Hockey Boys, Weddings, some soft background pining, team dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-21 17:42:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11362407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieAnna/pseuds/lotts
Summary: “They give people free pretzels just for being engaged?”





	now it begins, now we start

**Author's Note:**

> IF YOU FOUND THIS THROUGH GOOGLING, KNOW ANYONE MENTIONED IN THIS STORY PERSONALLY, OR ARE MENTIONED YOURSELF: please, please click away. This is a work of fiction and nothing written in this story is true. Any accurate information used in this story is publicly available information about public figures, the rest is made up, 100%
> 
> Thanks to everyone who laid eyes on this before it was posted (dexy, ftc, tots <3). Also thanks to the anon who prompted me to write a Mo/Gards fic based off [this post](https://incorrectleafquotes.tumblr.com/post/161869787983/morgan-rielly-did-you-tell-everybody-were), and to incorrectleafsquotes for existing. Title is from "One Hand, One Heart" from West Side Story.
> 
> More bonus stuff in the endnotes!

Mo is the one who proposes, but Jake has a ring in his pocket when he does, so it’s a near-thing. 

“No,” Jake groans when Mo starts to get down on one knee, but then Mo looks heartbroken, and Jake realizes how that came across. “I mean– no, do your thing, yeah, but I was going to.” 

“What?” Mo asks as he stands back up. 

“Yeah, I– you’re proposing, right?” Jake asks. 

“Well, I was,” Mo says, “but you sort of cut me off.” He looks amused and kind of elated. Jake thinks it’s a good look on him. 

“Yeah, I was  _ so _ going to do that tonight, man,” Jake says. “Seriously, look.” He sticks his hand into his pocket, and he pulls out the small velvet box. “It’s–” 

“No, don’t show me, I started first, I get to be the one who proposes,” Mo says. Quickly, he drops to one knee. The velvet on his jewelry box is red, but when he opens it up, there’s a bright blue stone on a silver band. “I thought it looked like your eyes,” Mo explains. 

Jake wants to chirp him for being a sap, but he’s kind of speechless, so he just stands there staring at it.

“Jake Gardiner,” Mo says, “will you marry me?” 

Jake gulps, and then he nods. “Fuck, yeah, of course,” he says, and he’s smiling and crying and holy  _ fuck.  _ Mo slides the ring onto Jake’s finger, and Jake stares at it. 

“Do you like it?” Mo asks. 

Jake has never had an opinion on a piece of jewelry in his life, but it’s the ring Mo bought him because he wants to spend the rest of their lives together, so he can make an exception. “Fuckin’ beauty,” he says. 

Mo laughs, but there are happy tears in his eyes, and he throws his arms around Jake. “Never change,” he says, his face nestled in the nape of Jake’s neck. 

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Jake says, and he squeezes Mo tight. 

* * *

Mo wants to put off telling the team.

“Just for a bit,” Mo says. “It’s early in the season, and I want people to adjust.” 

Jake pouts. “Then why’d you propose now? I wasn’t going anywhere.” 

Mo gives Jake that soft smile– god, he’s so  _ cute.  _ “Couldn’t resist, I guess,” he says. “Listen, just, like, a few weeks, alright?” 

“Fine,” Jake says. He throws his arm around Mo and presses a kiss to his head. “Don’t make me wait too long, alright?” 

“I wouldn’t,” Mo says. “Promise.” 

* * *

Jake makes it three days without telling anyone, but then he forgets to take off his ring before he goes to the mall.

“Nice hardware,” the pretzel vendor says, nodding at the ring. 

“Oh,” Jake says, looking at his hand. “Yeah, my boyfriend just proposed.” He smiles at it. “Fiancé, now, I guess.”

“Nice,” the guy says. “Matches your eyes.” 

“He said the same thing. That’s why he chose it, apparently,” Jake says.

“Sounds like a good one,” says the guy. “Here, have an extra pretzel, on me.” 

“Thanks,” Jake says. If being engaged means he gets free stuff, then he should try and get Mo to let him tell people soon. 

* * *

“They give people free pretzels just for being engaged?” Mo asks, sounding skeptical.

“Apparently,” Jake says. “This guy did, anyway.” 

“Well, thanks,” Mo says, taking the pretzel. “Why were you at the mall anyway?” 

“Went to the Apple Store. Got your phone fixed,” Jake says. 

“What?” Mo asks. 

“Yeah. Here,” he says, digging it out of his pocket and tossing it to Mo. “See? Brand-new screen.” 

“I could have done that,” Mo says. 

“I’m sorry,” Jake says. Mo had other things to do today, so Jake figured it was okay, but maybe he should have asked. 

“No, don’t– that’s really sweet of you,” Mo says, and his smile is the most radiant thing Jake has ever seen. 

“Yeah, well, figured that’s the kind of thing a husband would do, right?” 

“Husband,” Mo says, like the word is unfamiliar in his mouth. “We’re gonna be husbands.” 

“Yeah, we are,” Jake says. “What, cold feet already?” 

“Nope,” Mo says, and leans in to kiss him. 

* * *

Jake wants to bring his ring to their first post-engagement practice, but Mo vetoes the idea.

“We’re not telling them yet,” he says. “You don’t want to throw it in with all your gross gear, right?” 

“But–” Jake protests. He can’t exactly say that he doesn’t like being far from it, because it’s just a piece of jewelry, and his actual fiancé is going to be there, but still. 

“It’s fine, okay? Just– not to this next practice. Please?” Mo says. “We’ll tell them soon, I promise.” 

“Fine,” Jake grumbles. 

It doesn’t make a difference anyway, because after practice, Mitch corners him. “There’s something up with you and Mo,” Mitch declares. “Tell me what it is.” 

Jake doesn’t know what to do, so he calls for Mo. 

“What’s up?” Mo says, walking over to them. 

“Mitchy here wants to know if there’s something up between us,” Jake says. 

“Okay,” Mo says. “Uh, what makes you think that?” he asks Mitch. 

“You two keep flirting and looking at each other. It’s  _ weird. _ ”

“We always flirt,” Jake points out. 

“Yeah, so why do you keep staring at each other like you just started dating?” Mitch asks, crossing his arms. “You guys have been together forever. No honeymoon phase lasts that long.” 

“Did you tell him?” Mo asks Jake, which is a really bad thing to say if you’re trying to pretend nothing’s up. 

“No, I didn’t,” Jake says. 

“Because you told the pretzel vendor–” 

“That was a random pretzel vendor, and there was a free pretzel involved–” 

“What do pretzels have anything to do with you two?” Mitch asks. “C’mon, spill, I won’t tell anyone.” 

Mo sighs. “We might be, uh, engaged.” 

Mitch’s eyes go wide. “What?” he asks. “How long?” 

“It’s only been a few days,” Jake says. “Just– we’re gonna tell people eventually, alright?” 

“Who proposed?” Mitch says, completely ignoring what Jake just said, which, rude. 

Mo raises his hand, but Jake says, “I was going to, but he beat me.” 

“Oh my gosh, this is amazing, our team dads are getting married!” Mitch says, and launches himself forward to hug both of them. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Mo says. “We’re excited.” He makes eye contact with Jake over Mitch’s back and offers him a smile. 

“So we can mark you down as a ‘yes’ for the wedding?” Jake says. 

“Oh my god, a wedding, yes,” Mitch says gleefully, pulling away. “Do you guys have rings? Can I see?” 

“Well, my lovely fiancé made us leave them at home,” Jake says. “I have pictures.” 

“Wow, Mo,” Mitch says, giving him a disappointed nod, which is one of the funniest things Jake has ever seen. 

“I didn’t want him to lose it!” Mo says, and Jake just laughs. 

“I can take care of myself, don’t worry,” he says. 

“So am I the first person to know?” Mitch asks. 

“Well, there was the pretzel vendor,” Jake says. “Great guy. I should see if he’ll cater the wedding.” 

“Oh my god,” Mo groans, and Mitch laughs. 

* * *

Mitch figuring them out means Mo and Jake have to rush to tell the vets, which wasn’t their initial plan, but if Mitch knows, then Auston probably knows, and that means the entire group chat of last year’s rookies probably already knows.

“Didn’t even make it a week,” grumbles Mo. 

“Are you mad?” asks Gards. “We don’t have to tell them.” 

“Honestly? I just don’t want to start planning a wedding,” says Mo, looking guilty. It’s one of those moments where Jake remembers that Mo is 4 years younger than him. 

“You mean, just, dealing with the logistics of it?” Jake asks. “Don’t worry, I don’t want to either.”

“It seems like so much work. I mean, it’s worth it, but–” 

“I was assuming we’d just hire a wedding planner to, like, plan the actual wedding?” Jake says. 

“Oh,” Mo says. “Yeah, smart move.” 

“I make those sometimes,” Jake says. “Also, we should buy champagne. For tonight.” 

“Really, you’re on a roll with these,” Mo says, standing up. “I’ll get it.” 

“You sure?” Jake asks. 

“Yeah, I’ll be back soon,” Mo says, pressing a kiss to Jake’s head as he leaves. 

When he returns, he has an extra bottle of champagne, and he’s still wearing his engagement ring. “You weren’t kidding about free stuff.” 

“Did you tell the guy at the liquor store?” Jake asks, amused. 

“I mean, yeah,” Mo says. 

“Sweet,” Jake says. “How long do you think it’ll take Naz to ask if Jazzy’s gonna be in the wedding?” 

“Oh, like, two minutes, max,” Mo says. 

“I think he’ll be polite, wait a bit,” Jake says. 

“Wanna bet?” 

“You’re on.” 

It takes Naz about twenty seconds to bring up his cat, and they’re in the middle of a giant group hug when he does. Jake is happy to pay up.

* * *

“Mitchy told Matts,” Mo informs Jake.

“Didn’t we assume that would happen?” Jake says. “I’m half convinced they have some, like, telepathic bond.” 

“Could be. Matts told me that Mitch told him in the car after practice, though.” 

Mo and Auston have their thing. Auston isn’t a rookie anymore, but when he was, he was Mo’s, and Auston had a pretty good rookie year. Jake didn’t really have his own rookie– he had Mitch, the way every vet had Mitch, and he was happy to help any of the rookies when they needed him– but Mo was the youngest of the older guys, and Auston was the youngest of their young crop, and they had more time together in the preseason with the whole World Cup thing anyway. 

“They’re still carpooling?” Jake asks. 

“Yep. Don’t know why, they don’t even live near each other anymore.” 

Jake thinks back to when he lived with Mo even when it made no sense for either of them to have a roommate, and gears start to turn in his head, but he keeps his mouth shut. Whatever’s going on with the rookies– or, like, the sophomores, or whatever the fuck they’re supposed to call them– it’s not Jake’s business to figure out, and he probably shouldn’t encourage Mo either. 

“Guess Matts just hates driving,” Jake says. “So, do the rest of the kids know?” 

“Kids?” Mo asks. 

“Not rookies anymore, but, y’know,” Jake says. “Kids. It works.” 

“It this another joke about me being a dad, or whatever?” Mo asks. 

“It’s not a joke,” Jake says. “Don’t lie, you love being the team dad.”

Mo turns pink, and Jake smiles. 

“It’s not like– they’re adults, y’know? It was just nice to have, like, teammates who cared when I was their age, so–” 

“Don’t worry,” Jake says, laughing and reaching out to pull Mo close to him, “It’s cute.” 

Mo turns even pinker at that, and Jake can’t help but kiss him. 

“I don’t think they know. Auston asked me if it was cool to tell them, though.” 

“Hm,” Jake says, considering. “I like telling people.” 

“It’s fun,” Mo agrees. “Everyone’s always so happy for us.” 

“Yeah, and the free stuff too,” Jake says. 

“I don’t think we’re getting free stuff from our teammates,” Mo points out. 

“True,” Jake says. “We should put a picture in the group chat and watch them freak out.” 

“Good call,” Mo says. 

They end up taking a selfie, rings and all, and as expected, the chat goes wild. 

“Wow, I think that was the most emojis I’ve ever seen Mitchy use,” Mo says. 

“And he uses a lot of emojis,” Jake says. “Aw, everyone’s excited.” 

“Should we respond to these?” Mo asks. 

Jake shrugs “When it settles down, we’ll send one ‘thank you’ message,” he says. 

“And in the meantime?” Mo asks, and he gives Jake a  _ look,  _ the kind of look that makes Jake shiver, still, even though they’ve been together for two years– three years, if you ask Jake, but Mo is firm about their anniversary– and he’s been on the receiving end of that look more times than he can count. 

“I have some ideas,” Jake says. 

They don't respond to the messages for a while. 

* * *

In the end, they can’t just hire a wedding planner to do everything for them. There’s all this stuff that has to be dealt with, stuff that they can’t just say “yeah, whatever” to. It’s annoying, and Jake kind of wants to just be married already.

“I love you, but I won’t elope,” Mo says firmly. “Come on, think of, like, your family. Or my family. Or the team.” 

“Isn’t it supposed to be about us? It’s our wedding,” Jake says. 

“Nope,” Mo says. “It’s about everyone else. We get to enjoy being married, but they get to enjoy the wedding.” 

“That’s dumb,” Jake says bluntly. 

“Probably. But we’re doing this,” Mo says. “Think of the gifts.”

“What do we even need? We already live together,” Jake says. 

“Okay, fine, think of how fun it will be to watch the kids at their first team wedding,” Mo says. “C’mon, drunk Mitchy and Willy on the dance floor. It’ll be hilarious.” 

“True,” Jake says. “We should wait until everyone’s super wasted to do the YMCA.” 

“I’ll make sure the DJ knows that,” Mo says. “See? You made a choice about our wedding. You’re planning!” 

“Weren’t you the one who didn’t want to start planning yet?” Jake asks. “I miss those days.” 

“I didn’t want to start, but we’re in the thick of it now,” Mo says. “Come on, what’s the point of being engaged if you’re not planning a wedding?” 

Jake thinks for a second. “I guess,” he says. 

“And at the end of it all, we get to be married,” Mo says. 

Jake smiles at the idea of getting to say  _ this is my husband, Mo,  _ and, like, letting everyone know that he’s Mo’s forever. God, he's so lucky, and so proud. 

“We should get married outside,” Jake says, because when he pictures saying  _ I do  _ and kissing Mo, there’s wind and sun and a sky that’s almost as blue as Mo’s eyes. Almost. 

“Wh– oh! Okay, that’s good, yeah,” Mo says. “Let me write that down, I don’t want to forget–” 

“You can just text the wedding planner,” Jake says, amused, because Mo’s scrambling around, trying to find a pen and paper or something, and it’s adorable. 

“Right, yeah,” Mo says. “Outdoor wedding. Sounds nice.” 

“Sweet,” Jake says. 

* * *

It’s Mo who gets them pretzels when they go back to the mall to buy wedding bands.

“Did you get this one for free?” Jake asks. 

Mo shook his head. “Nah, it was some girl. Didn’t ask about the ring at all.” 

“Shame,” Jake says, smiling, but he takes the extra pretzel Mo offers him anyway. “Guess there’s no point to being engaged anymore if we’re not getting free pretzels.” 

“Ha ha,” Mo says, rolling his eyes. 

“I’m serious,” Jake says. “Guess I just gotta marry you now.” 

Mo kind of chokes on his pretzel, but he recovers quickly enough. “What the fuck, that was so smooth. You can’t just say shit like that while I’m eating.” 

Jake laughs loudly. 

* * *

In the end, Jake is glad they don’t elope.

The sky is clear, and it might be almost as blue as Mo’s eyes, but Jake doesn’t really notice, because he doesn’t look away from Mo once during the ceremony. 

During the reception, after everyone’s taken full advantage of the open bar and all of the youngest cousins have left, a somewhat drunk Auston Matthews walks up to Jake. 

“Hey,” he says. “Mitchy told me the first person who knew you were engaged was a pretzel vendor, that true?” 

“Yeah,” Jake says, smiling at the memory. 

“That’s cool,” Auston says. “It works, because, like, tying the knot, y’know?” 

“Huh, I guess that’s true,” Jake says. 

“Congrats,” Auston says. “You're really great together.”

The music changes to something slow and sweet, and Auston’s eyes dart towards the dance floor; Jake follows his gaze and sees Mitch walking towards them. 

“I’m gonna go find my husband,” Jake says. “Have fun, yeah?” 

Auston nods, and Jake turns away. Whatever’s happening there is probably private. 

“Hey,” he says, when he finds Mo, who’s looking at his phone, but he looks up when he hears Jake. 

“Hi,” Mo says. “What’s up?” 

“I think there’s something going on with the kids,” Jake says. 

Mo crinkles his nose. “Don’t call them that, it’s weird.” 

Jake smiles. “Alright, well, I think Mitchy and Matts might’ve gotten their shit together. Wanna go spy on them?” he asks. 

“Nah,” Mo says. “But I’m happy for them.” 

“I’m happier for us, I think,” Jake says. 

“That’s true,” Mo says, laughing. Jake is addicted to the sound of Mo’s laughter, and he’s long since accepted that fact. 

“We’re gonna be the best fucking husbands, man,” Jake says. “Fuck, I love you so much.” 

“I love you too,” Mo says, and they kiss; it’s not their first kiss as husbands, and it’s so, so far from the last, but Jake doesn’t really want to stop, so he doesn’t. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't find any common triggers in this story, but if there is anything you feel should be tagged, please let me know! 
> 
> (Miniature) Bonus Content:  
> -Oh my gosh these two are so soft  
> -Mo's ring for Gards:  
>   
> Gards' ring for Mo:  
>   
> -The "tying the knot" theme wasn't like, intentional, but it works, right?  
> -Don't @ me but I 100% believe that in this universe, Gards' phone background is Mo sticking his tongue out at the camera after eating like, a blueberry snow cone, so his tongue is all blue from it.  
> -Jazzy's around for the ceremony, but leaves before the reception.  
> -Mitch requests a slow song just so he can ask Auston to dance. It's probably, like, "Drops of Jupiter" by Train. There are endless chirps.  
> -Mo and Gards' official anniversary is marked by the day they first went out to dinner and Mo brought flowers.  
> - _#teamdadsgethitched_ is the official hashtag of the wedding, used by everyone on the team besides Mo and Gards.  
>  -If you don't think that Gards refers to Mo as a "fuckin' beauty" in his vows, you're sorely mistaken. He manages to do it twice in his speech during the reception, too.
> 
> Come talk to me on [tumblr!](https://lottswrites.tumblr.com/)


End file.
